Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors    by Bill Bryson Order:  USA  Can Broadway, 2008 (2008) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Alex Telander Bestselling author Bill Bryson has already amassed quite a career for himself with successful travel writing books like A Walk in the Woods and In a Sunburned Country, as well as books on literature and language like The Mother Tongue and Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, and even a concise history of science with A Short History of Nearly Everything; Bryson now returns with Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors. He admits in his preface that it is a personal collection, 'built over thirty years as a writer and editor in two countries,' and that some of the obscure references and definitions may not be useful to many - like the name of the Sydney district Woolloomooloo, or the fact that the residence of the Danish Royal Family in Copenhagen is the Amalienborg Palace. Nevertheless, Bryson addresses many of the common issues that make a writer hesitate – amoral or immoral?; Effect or affect? He dispenses with the dictionary's phonetic alphabet, instead providing pronunciation help where necessary; as well as cross indexing so that in the example mentioned above, the entry can be found filed under both amoral and immoral for the writer's and editor's ease. Bryson's Dictionary is filled with innumerable references and spellings for authors, book titles, series, philosophers, scientists ... you name it, making them even easier to find than by looking them up on the Internet. Bryson also included appendices of punctuation and its definitions, words ending in –able and –ible, a list of the world's airports and their codes, the different currencies of the world, conversion tables, and an extensive glossary on grammar. Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors is the ideal book for most people who do any sort of reading and writing, whether it is the freshman heading off to college for the first time, the freelance writing looking to get published, or the retired crossword addict looking for exact spelling at their fingertips. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more NonFiction books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews